Our Way
by deadeb03
Summary: Bulma and Vegeta are getting married. But will Vegeta be able to handle these strange Earth marriage customs? Or will they decide to get married their own way.
1. Chapter 1

Our Way

Chapter 1 - Preparations

"Oh, look, Bulma! That one would look so cute on you!"

"Mom! I've told you a hundred times. . .NO!"

Bulma tried to walk past the store, but her mother grabbed her hand and pulled her inside before she could even voice her protest.

"We want to try on that dress in the window," Mrs. Briefs announced to the entire store. Bulma covered her eyes with one hand and shook her head. Her face felt like it was on fire with embarrassment.

"What do you mean 'we', mom?" she muttered. "Are you planning on squeezing both of us in it?"

"Don't be silly, dear," her mother twittered. "That would make it too hard to dance with your father."

Bulma groaned, but her mother was already talking with the two salespeople that had practically run each other over trying to cater to the rich wife of the Capsule Corp. owner. Before she knew it, she had been stripped, dressed, pinned, and plunked in front of a half-circle of mirrors.

"Mom, for the last time. . ." She started to protest, but the sparkle of the dress under the lights drew her attention to its flattering design. She couldn't help but turn back and forth to see it from every angle.

"It's so beautiful!" her mother cried. "We'll take it!"

"But, mom. . ." she tried to argue again. This time, though, her mother had already left to pay for it.

Bulma looked at herself in the mirror. Even with her critical eye, she could find no fault in the dress. The cut was perfect, the fabric was perfect, the detailing was perfect. The only thing not perfect was the fear in her eyes.

"I can't believe we found this beautiful dress so quickly," Mrs. Briefs said as they headed toward their waiting car, Bulma juggling the oversized dress box. "I mean, we only went to. . .what, nine stores?"

"Ten," Bulma grumbled, practically tossing the box to the driver before dropping onto the seat. Her feet were sore from following her mother around all morning, but she didn't look forward to going home, either.

"I can't wait to tell your father that you're all set!"

Bulma sighed. No matter how hard she tried, her mother just wouldn't understand. And now she had to go home and try to explain this mess to Vegeta. He wasn't going to be happy to hear their wedding date had been set for them.

* * *

"Absolutely not!" Vegeta roared. "This is preposterous!"

Bulma lifted her tired head from her hands and sat back in her chair. All in all, her announcement had gotten the response she expected - total obstinance.

"Vegeta, please, keep it down," she said. "You'll wake everyone in the house, and I had a hard enough time getting Trunks to sleep the first time."

"Well I won't do it!" he declared, just slightly quieter than before. He turned his back to her and crossed his arms. Bulma thought he looked like a pouting child, but forced herself not to snicker. Laughing now wouldn't help his mood in the least.

"It won't take long," she promised. "Just a couple of hours and then you can go back to training."

When Vegeta didn't answer, Bulma's hopes grew. She knew that his lack of response meant that he wasn't completely ruling it out. . .yet.

"Listen, I tried to explain to my parents what you said about the Saiyan culture," Bulma said. "But here on earth, having a kid together doesn't qualify as proving you're married."

"Well, it should," Vegeta grumbled.

"Here, we have to do things more publicly."

"It shouldn't be anyone else's business."

"It has to be done according to our laws." Bulma sighed before adding, "Especially with my father being who he is."

Vegeta snorted.

"I'm serious, Vegeta," she said and went to stand beside him. "Whether you like it or not, your son's mother is heir to the Capsule Corp. fortune. Trunks will be running the company one day. Not that I'm a stickler for formalities, but this is our son's future we're talking about. Don't you think he deserves to grow up with everyone knowing his parents are legally married?"

She could tell he was close to relenting by the way his shoulders relaxed. Moving closer, she lay a hand on his arm and looked up into his face.

"Please, Vegeta? To put everyone's mind at ease, would you do it for him?"

"No," he said. "But I'll do it anyway."

* * *

"Come on, Vegeta. It's time to go get your monkey suit," Dr Briefs called from the hallway.

Vegeta choked on his mouthful of breakfast. "My what?!" he sputtered.

"It's just an expression," Bulma explained. "He means your suit for the wedding."

Vegeta was relieved when they arrived at the tailors and the suits turned out to be normal clothing and not what he imagined a 'monkey suit' to be.

"This is my future son-in-law," Dr. Briefs introduced him to the tailor. "Fix him up with a nice suit for the wedding, won't you, good man?" We'll be back in a jiffy, won't we Kitty?"

For once, Vegeta wished the old man would stick around, even with the feline that seemed permanently attached to his shoulder. He felt very uncomfortable alone with the tailor and hoped all the prodding and measuring was normal. He jumped, nearly knocking the bespeckled little man through the store wall when his inseam was taken. But since he had ignored Vegeta's reaction and went on writing numbers on his little tablet, he let it slide. That time.

"My, my," the tailor tutted as he measured Vegeta's neck and shoulders. "You are going to be a difficult one to fit. Let me see what I've got in the back."

When the little man disappeared into the back room, Vegeta looked over the racks of clothing and grimaced at the mannequin. Everything looked so uncomfortable. He wondered why he couldn't just do this in his own clothes. Having special outfits to go through a ceremony, when he was already married by Saiyan standards, was almost too bizarre a concept to grasp.

"You can just slip this shirt on and see how it will work for you," the tailor said from behind him.

Vegeta discarded his own shirt and donned the offered one. He had a little trouble with the tiny, pearlized buttons, but he finally managed them all. The tailor bustled around him, pinning and marking the shirt in various places.

The jacket, Vegeta was glad to discover, was not the long, tailed one on the mannequin. It came just to his waist, but the sleeves were too long. The tailor quickly remedied that with a handful of pins, then began fussing over the shoulders.

Vegeta looked himself over in the mirror and found himself pleased with what he saw. The black coat complimented his dark hair and features. The cut drew attention to the breadth of his shoulders and emphasized his small waist. The white of the shirt brought out color in his face that normally only appeared during battle. He had to admit, if only to himself, that he looked damn good in this suit.

"That looks very nice, Vegeta," Dr. Briefs said, coming around a rack of pants and plopping himself down in a chair. "Almost done?"

"We have the pants left," the tailor said around his mouthful of pins. "And then there's the cummerbund, the shoes, the gloves. . . No, don't do that!"

Vegeta had crossed his arms, his muscles tensed in annoyance. Several pins popped out of the strained cloth and flew across the room. The tailor gasped, but Dr. Briefs just laughed.

"He tends to do that quite often," he told the flustered little man. "Better let it out a bit or he'll end up splitting it right down the middle during the ceremony."

It took a great deal of willpower on Vegeta's part to keep from ripping the clothes to shreds and flying off straight through the roof. But he had already agreed to this performance, so there was nothing he could do but grit his teeth and suffer through it.

Bulma owed him, big time!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - Customs

"Mom, I don't want a shower," Bulma complained. "There's nothing I need."

"But you have to have a bridal shower, honey. It's like a law or something."

Bulma stared at her and thanked Kami she had inherited her father's intelligence. She loved her mother, but sometimes wondered how she had survived her own childhood with this woman caring for her.

"There are no laws stating I have to have a shower," Bulma informed Mrs. Briefs.

"Well, I think we'd better go get you registered at the stores today," she continued as if Bulma hadn't spoken. "Have you and Vegeta picked out China patterns yet? How about silverware?"

"Vegeta could care less what's printed on a plate as long as it's covered with food. And as for silverware. . .let's just be glad he uses it every now and then," Bulma said with a grimace.

"And we've got to pick out a good photographer," her mother said. "So you can look back and remember your special day years and years from now."

Mrs. Briefs had hit upon a sore point for Bulma.

"Face facts, mom. Vegeta barely gives any of us the time of day. He could disappear one day just because there's a fight somewhere he wants to be a part of. He wouldn't think twice about leaving me or Trunks behind."

"He's stayed this long," her mother pointed out.

"He's training for the androids that kid from the future told Goku about," Bulma reminded her. "The only thing keeping him in this house is dad's inventions and your cooking. He'll probably just stick around until he finally gets his fight with Goku, then he'll either fly off in our spaceship or. . ." she stopped herself before voicing her worst fear. As strong as she knew Vegeta was, she was positive Goku was stronger. She was also positive that Vegeta would rather die than admit defeat against him again.

"Don't be silly. He cares more about you than you know. He's had three years to take that spaceship sitting out back. He didn't. I don't think he's even looked at it," Mrs. Briefs said. Then she leaned in close to whisper, "But I've caught him watching Trunks sleeping."

Bulma's eyes flew open in shock and her mother giggled. She could barely get Vegeta to acknowledge he had a son, let alone take any interest in him. Could there be feelings he was successfully hiding from her? Or had she been too busy with the baby to notice them?

"Now," her mother said, interrupting her thoughts, "let's talk about caterers."

* * *

"Your earth customs are completely insane!" Vegeta said as he stormed into the nursery looking for Bulma.

"I can't argue with you there," Bulma agreed, picking the freshly diapered Trunks up from the changing table.

"Do you know what they want me to do?" they both said at the same time.

Bulma laughed at the way neither of them were enjoying their wedding plans. Although Vegeta didn't laugh, he couldn't help but let one corner of his mouth twitch upward.

"You first," Bulma said. "What is dad trying to talk you into?"

"Something called a 'bachelor party'. I don't know what a bachelor is or why I would want to spend a night looking at female bodies with a room full of other men. I didn't even consider it before mating with you, why would I want to do it now?"

She laughed at Vegeta's description and the look of disgust on his face. "It's an old earth custom for the groom to be able to spend a night with his friends, either celebrating or mourning the fact that he will be a married man. Think of it as a last chance to sleep around before mating."

Vegeta mulled it over and nodded his head. "I understand, but we've already mated. It's too late for this custom."

"Good answer," Bulma smiled, relieved to know Vegeta would not be going out to oggle naked women. "Here, hold Trunks while I change his sheet. He spit up during his nap."

Bulma gave Vegeta no time to decline as she thrust the wiggly child into his arms and turned her back to them. Even though he had never held him before, she trusted him to at least be able to handle not dropping him for a couple minutes.

"So do women have this custom too?" Vegeta asked, holding Trunks out in one large hand, his tiny hands and feet dangling toward the floor. "To sleep with other men before the marriage ceremony?"

Bulma snorted in amusement as she ripped off the soiled sheet and searched for a clean one. "No. That one has typically been reserved for men, although recently there have been things known as 'bachelorette parties'. . ." she paused, sensing rather than seeing Vegeta's darkening mood. "The custom women usually have is called a bridal shower?"

"Bridal shower?" Vegeta asked. "To cleanse yourself for your mate? We have a similar custom."

She laughed so hard, Trunks started kicking his feet in excitement. Vegeta held him out even further so as not to come into any more contact than necessary.

"A bridal shower is a party where the woman's friends give her gifts she may need for her new home with her new husband. But since we're not getting a new home, the party is senseless."

"This whole thing is senseless," Vegeta grumbled handing Trunks back to Bulma. "I refuse to do anything more than what is absolutely necessary."

"Trust me, Vegeta. After a day of planning more details for this wedding than I ever thought possible, I am beginning to agree with you."

* * *

"It's too late, dear. Everything has been ordered and will be arriving first thing tomorrow morning."

"Then just call them back and cancel!" Bulma cried. "I am not going to be standing in the middle of a decorated hall next to a huge wedding cake without a groom!"

"Have you checked the roof?" Dr. Briefs asked. "Maybe he's just enjoying the view."

"He's not anywhere around, dad!" Bulma yelled in frustration. "I looked everywhere! The gravity chamber, the spaceship, the lab, the house, outside the house, on top of the house, under the house, everywhere! He. . .is. . .not. . .here!"

Bulma slammed her hand down on the table with each word which made Trunks start to cry. Mrs. Briefs picked him up out of the high chair and patted his back to soothe him. Bulma felt like bawling herself. Vegeta had disappeared sometime during the morning while everyone thought he was locked away in his training room. When he hadn't come out for dinner, Bulma went out to see if anything was wrong.

It was empty.

She had spent a frantic afternoon looking for him, a nail-biting evening waiting for him to come back from wherever he had obviously flown off to. It was now nearly eleven o'clock, and their wedding was only hours away.

"I'm going to bed," she declared and shoved herself up from the table. She cursed herself for letting Vegeta's natural character to upset her so much. She should have anticipated that he would end up disappointing her, something else always seeming to take precedence in his eyes. As she got ready for bed, she thought up what scalding things she would say to him when he finally came back.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – Surprise

Vegeta rapped on Bulma's window until a light flicked on and she finally came to open it.

"Where the hell. . ." She paused at the sight of Vegeta floating just outside her second story window. The light from behind her shone just far enough into the dark night outside to see the most beautiful sight. Vegeta was wearing his new black suit with a crisp, white shirt complete with cufflinks, a deep blue cummerbund and bow tie. She leaned slightly over the windowsill to see the light reflect off his shiny black shoes.

"Get dressed," he ordered. "We're getting married."

"But the wedding isn't until noon," Bulma said, still numb with shock at the dashing picture Vegeta made. She thought he looked unbelievable in his training clothes, but this was way beyond handsome! It was downright, breathtakingly sexy!

"We're getting married now," he repeated. "Put on that marriage gown and let's get going before I change my mind!"

Bulma didn't waste time asking questions while she donned her wedding dress. If he had come back, serious about marrying her, she wasn't going to risk doing anything to give him second thoughts. Even though she wanted to know why they were doing this in the middle of the night, she kept her mouth closed.

Vegeta helped her out the window and flew off, carrying her in his arms. The stars were bright overhead, lighting their way as they sped through the air. Bulma watched the scenery pass below her, completely trusting Vegeta to keep her safe from falling.

"So where are we getting married?" she asked, brushing her windblown hair from her face.

Vegeta didn't answer.

"Is it a secret? A surprise? I love surprises! Could you at least give me a hint?"

Vegeta still didn't acknowledge her questions, so Bulma sighed and continued scanning the ground for familiar landmarks. She had a vague idea they were traveling north, but couldn't be sure without any sun to gauge by.

"You look. . .that dress. . .it's. . ."

Bulma wanted to laugh at Vegeta's attempt at a compliment, but didn't dare if she wanted him to keep doing it. Instead, she smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you," she said. "You look very nice, too."

They flew on in silence for awhile before a glow of light caught her attention on the horizon. As they neared, she realized they were closing in on a large city, but couldn't imagine why there would be so many lights on at this time of night. The glare made Bulma squint her eyes after traveling in darkness for so long. Suddenly, she gasped.

"Vegeta! We're not just getting married! We're eloping!"

Vegeta relaxed, seeing the happy expression on Bulma's face. He had been preparing himself for a battle all afternoon, thinking she would fight against his idea. That was why he didn't ask, he ordered. It saved time.

"This is great!" she continued, her eyes reflecting the sparkling lights below. "I wish I had thought of this!"

"You females always make things harder than they need to be," Vegeta said. "If you would have told me in the first place there were other marriage customs, I wouldn't have had to research it."

"You are absolutely right, Vegeta."

He did a double take. She was actually agreeing with him? And smiling about it?

Bulma laughed at Vegeta's surprise and planted a kiss square on his lips. He had to stop flying and hover above the city so they wouldn't risk crashing into anything. He deepened the kiss and held her tight, her gown blowing gently against his legs in the breeze. Slowly, they made their way back to the ground, touching down just outside one of the city's many 24-hour wedding chapels.

"Boy have you two come to the right place!"

A scattering of applause accompanied the comment and the magic of their kiss was broken. Bulma giggled at the stain of red on Vegeta's cheeks before he hurried them inside the nearest door.

"Welcome! Welcome!" a boisterous woman cried, coming over to greet her newest customers. "Don't you both look so perfect! Just like the top of a wedding cake!"

"We want a marriage ceremony performed," Vegeta demanded. "Now."

"Of course! Of course!" she gushed, and grabbed Bulma's hands in her chubby ones. "Isn't he just the impatient one? Can't even wait for his beautiful bride to freshen up a bit? There's a room just over here where you can fix yourself right up."

"No need," he growled. "Let's just get on with it."

Bulma sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, trying to undo the damage the flight over had caused. The woman gave Vegeta a reproachful glare which was completely ignored.

Bulma was handed a clipboard as they followed her through a flowered archway and into a small chapel with a half-dozen short pews. She sat in the back and began to fill out the form they needed for the ceremony. One other couple and their witnesses stood in front of a small podium as an old man performed their nuptials. Bulma guessed he was the large woman's husband, but he was as thin as his wife was wide.

". . . I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

The witnesses clapped happily as the newly wedded couple embraced, practically devouring each other in their, now legal, passion.

"Disgusting!" Vegeta said under his breath.

"Next!" the old man called.

Vegeta stood in the aisle with his arms crossed, forcing everyone to squeeze between him and the pews as they left. When the way was clear, he grabbed Bulma's hand and marched her to the front.

"We're next," he announced.

The old man held out his hand and Bulma placed the clipboard in it. He skimmed over it until his brows creased in confusion.

"You didn't write down the groom's last name."

"That a problem?" Vegeta asked with a deadly glare.

"Not with me," he said with a shrug. "I've married two Chers, three Elvis's, and a Madonna this week. Just so you know that if this isn't your legal name it won't hold up in court."

"Just get on with it."

"Wait!" the large woman interrupted. "You need witnesses."

"Oh," Bulma said, her shoulders sagging. She would hate for Vegeta's beautiful gesture to be for nothing just for the lack of two people. "Just a second!"

Vegeta watched as Bulma hitched up her wedding dress and ran down the aisle and out the door. He looked over at the old man, but only received a smile and another shrug. Just as he was about to go after her, the door was flung open and Bulma returned.

"OK, let's get this wedding started," she announced, towing two complete strangers behind her.

"Oh, I just love weddings!" the first one gushed. Vegeta looked the newcomer over from the spiked high heels to the puffy blonde hair. He had to admit, she would have made a fairly pretty female . . . if it weren't for the Adam's apple.

"We're getting paid for this, right?" the second asked. This one was shorter and wore a dark, baggy suit and hat, but it didn't completely mask the fact that he had almost as big a chest as Bulma's.

Vegeta rolled his eyes, but kept his comments to himself. If they had to have witnesses, these would do. He tried his best to ignore them as Bulma stood by his side in front of the old man.

"Do you . . ." he looked down at the clipboard, ". . . Bulma take this man to be your husband?"

"I do," Bulma answered, giving Vegeta a bright smile.

"Do you . . ."

"Yes," Vegeta replied before the man could even find his name on the paper.

"Then by the power vested in me, I pronounce you husband and . . ."

Vegeta didn't hear the rest of the old man's words as he turned to Bulma. He had no intention of making such a lewd display as the couple before them, but when he looked into her eyes, he forgot where he was. To him, they were completely alone. All he saw was the happiness on her face and knew he was the cause of it.

"I have customers waiting," the old man said, tapping them both on the shoulder.

Bulma disengaged herself from Vegeta's kiss and looked around them. Not only were their witnesses applauding their passion, a dozen new spectators had arrived at some point and were also cheering them on. Vegeta tensed with embarrassment, but Bulma just laughed.

"Thank you! Thank you!" she said with a little bow. "Now if you don't mind, my husband and I really must be leaving."

"Just sign here," the woman said, thrusting the clipboard and pen into their hands. They quickly signed were indicated, posed for an instant photo, and practically tossed the promised money to their impromptu witnesses before they were able to escape the chapel.

"At least that's over," Vegeta said with a sigh as he yanked the tie from his neck. "Now let's get home."

"Wait, Vegeta," Bulma said, taking another look at their picture before tucking it in the envelope with their certificate. "It's not over yet."

"What do you mean? We went through the ceremony, we signed the paper . . . what else is there?"

"Well, there is one more wedding tradition. The honeymoon."

"Honeymoon? Is that anything like 'bachelor party' or 'bridal shower'?" he asked, a skeptical look on his face.

"No, this one is just for us. And we don't even have to fly anywhere to do it," she added, pointing to the posh hotel across the street.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - Announcement

"Is that the phone?" Bulma's mom asked, pushing herself up on her elbows in bed.

"No, dear. That's the fax machine," Dr. Briefs answered, pulling the covers higher.

"Don't you think you'd better see who the fax is from? It might be important."

He sighed as he got out of bed and put on his robe. After all these years, he knew better than to try and ignore his wife. She wouldn't let him rest until he proved the fax was something that could have waited until after dawn.

"So what is it, dear?" she asked when he returned to the bedroom. "Was it important?"

"Not really," he yawned. "It was just a message from Bulma. She and Vegeta eloped last night. She sent a picture, too."

"Oh. Well, wasn't that thoughtful of them. Did she say where they were?"

"Nope," he said, climbing back into bed. "But they'll be home in a week or so."

"That's nice."

"We'll have to cancel the arrangements. Call everyone and let them know the wedding's off."

"Then I guess it's a good thing I didn't make any arrangements," she said with a satisfied smile as she cuddled closer to her husband.


End file.
